Good day and welcome……

Big news coming out of Syria is that the forces of Assad are making good headway against Islamists…..it is unconfirmed and may be a propaganda tool…….

Item 1–Another under-reported story is that Iran is in support of the Kurds in Iraq….

When you see a warplane overhead in Iraq, and its backing Kurdish Peshmerga forces in a battle against ISIS, you automatically think of the United States. They are, after all, the one with hundreds of planes in the area doing that.

But a video released today shows that their “anti-ISIS coalition” isn’t the only ones, as an Iranian F-4 Phantom is seen backing Kurdish fighters in trying to retake a pair of lost towns.

Denials are coming out of DC….but there is proof…….

Item 2–News out of Lebanon is that the wife and son of ISIS leader, al-Baghdadi, has been arrested ……could be a bargaining tool for the release of Lebanese soldiers held by ISIS…..will be interesting to see how this plays out…..

Item 3–Some of the 82nd Airborne is headed to Iraq…….

About 250 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division will deploy in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, officials announced Monday.

The soldiers from 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, will begin deploying in late December.

They will deploy for nine months to the Central Command area of responsibility to conduct security operations.

Conduct security operations?  Is that code?

Item 4–A commander of ISIS has been expelled……

The alleged mastermind behind the kidnapping of the Lebanese servicemen from the northeastern border town of Arsal has been expelled from ISIS, local daily Al-Akhbar said Monday

They tied Hamad’s expulsion to the arrest of Abu Ahmad Joumaa, a prominent Syrian rebel commander apprehended by the Lebanese Army, as well as to avenge the death of Ahmad Taha, better known as Abu Hasan al-Falastini.

Sources told Al-Akhbar that the move would further complicate the hostage crisis.

Maybe intel people should try to get this guy on their side….with cash if possible.

Item 5–Iraqi update from Anbar Daily Blog……..

ISIL gunmen have carried out attacks on a military barracks at the Al-Waleed border crossing with Syria. It is probably the last position that has not been captured by ISIL. Sixteen military personnel have been killed in the attack, including one officer. The position is part of the Rutba township that has beeen uder ISIL control for nearly six months. Iraqi and coalition aircraft have launched airstrikes on the area bordering both Syria and Jordan, targeting the gunmen’s positions, with 31 gunmen reported killed.

In Ramadi, security forces announced today that ISIL gunmen have today launched a major surprise attack on three fronts: the first, in the northwestern sector, in an attempt by the gunmen to seize control of the Abu Risha area, but were repelled by tribal fighters who killed 3 of the gunmen; the second attack was on the southern sector in the Hawz district where previous clashes are still ongoing; the third attack was in the eastern sector in the areas along the Euphrates, but the security forces engaged the gunmen in fierce clashes and were able to spread their control and clear the roadside explosive devices on both banks of the river.

In Fallujah, gunfire and bombardment exchanges are continuing, with residential districts being hit indiscriminately. The city’s General Hospital has reported that 4 residents have been killed and 11 wounded.

There were also clashes to the east in the areas along the boundary with Salahuddin Province. Coalition warplanes have been involved there but we do not yet have any details. The overall situation indicates an escalation by the security forces trying to recover control of those areas,

In Hit, security forces are still controlling the town’s perimeter areas, while families are still evacuating the town following the previously announced intention to launch a major security operation supported by tribal forces, in order to liberate Hit town.

This concludes today’s briefing…….

Thanx for your time and attention…….

Turn The Page!

Good day we are starting a new week of the conflict against ISIS…….now there seems to be conflicting reports coming out of the admin……

Item 1–In the beginning the Obama people said that the Us would only be a supporting actor to the Iraqi army…..but then I read this report……

US officials are confirming that they have greatly accelerated their planning to retake Mosul, and that they could orchestrate an attack on the city as soon as January.

The plan such as it is, is to assemble “about 1,000 troops” to attack the city of nearly two million people, under the assumption that if they attack the north and south of the city at once, they’ll be able to oust the ISIS fighters.

That smells like a direct roll for US troops in the armed conflict…..it is contradiction to previous statements….

Item 2–Kobane has slipped from the headlines here in the states….there is always something more newsworthy…..but while we were otherwise distracted…….

Months of fighting over the key north Syrian border town of Kobani (Ayn al-Arab in Arabic) continue, but ISIS seems to be getting a more decisive advantage by the moment, with Kurdish officials saying the town is now totally surrounded.

In addition to the usual raids from the south and the east, where the bulk of ISIS forces are located, smaller raids were reported from the west, and perhaps more disturbingly, the north, where the Turkish border lies.

ISIS attacking from within Turkey?

Item 3–There are some tactics that are a waste of time…..and this piece of crap is just such a waste……

The U.S. military will subject Syrian rebels taking part in a new training program to psychological evaluations, biometrics checks and stress tests under a screening plan that goes well beyond the steps the United States normally takes to vet foreign soldiers, a sign of the risks the Obama administration faces as it expands support for armed groups in Syria.

Officials said the screening program, developed chiefly by the U.S. Central Command, will rely on what was described as a “common core” of screening protocols, including running trainees’ names through U.S. and foreign intelligence databases, collecting biometric data and, when possible, seeking information from fighters’ home communities. Rebel commanders will be subject to additional screening.

What a plan!  In a region with changing alliances……

Item 4–This operation has a wealth of worthless ideas…….and this is just one in a long list……

BAGHDAD—Iraq’s Sunni-majority al-Watanya bloc warned that arming tribes and militia groups by the state would lead to a civil war and that weapons should only be in the hands of government forces.

The al-Watanya bloc led by Vice President Ayad Allawi said in a statement on Saturday that ‘random’ arming of Sunni tribes and Shiite militias would lead the country into a civil war between the country’s different sects.

“Weapons should only be in the hands of government forces to avoid bad consequences and a civil war in the future,” read the statement.

The Iraqi government maintains relations with some Sunni tribes in Anbar while it is allegedly arming several Shiite militia groups to assist the army in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS).

“Arming the tribes and militias indicates the government’s failure in creating efficient security forces,” said the al-Watanya.

Need more be said?

Item 5–US may be footing the bill for an army that does not exist…….

For months, Iraqi officials have been trying to find out exactly how broken their military was, as something was clearly wrong with them after being routed by ISIS this summer in Mosul.

Corruption has been a big problem for Iraq, and it’s even bigger than anyone imagined, as the probe of one of the major problems, “ghost soldiers” on the payroll who didn’t exist, uncovered at least 50,000 of them.

More waste…..that is what this conflict is all about…..

Item 6–“Moderate” rebels have a new umbrella group…..and it is not what all want……

The Revolutionary Command Council, a newly created umbrella group aiming to unite Syrian rebel groups in the north, has unveiled its new council after a three-day organizational meeting.

Far from the “moderate” faction people were expecting, the council is dominated by Islamist factions, particularly those with ties to al-Qaeda’s Jabhat al-Nusra, and reflects al-Qaeda’s growing influence across northwest Syria.

Oh goodie….more bad news for the Coalition…..

This concludes today’s briefing……

Thanx for your time and attention……

Turn The Page!

Good day and a hope all had a lovely restful Thanksgiving……

Shall we begin the last briefing of the week….

Item 1–The concern has been that troops will be needed on the ground and just who will provide that unpopular part of this coalition……

US officials are confirming that they are engaged in ongoing negotiations with Arab nations, particularly Jordan, in an effort to send Arab ground troops to Iraq and Syria to fight against ISIS.

The US has been increasing its own ground presence across Iraq, though they continue to deny that they’re going to be involved in direct combat operations. Jordan seems to be keen to get an Arab army involved, and could be the first nation on board with the operation.

Does Jordan have an army large enough or experienced enough for the job of a ground assault?

Item 2–An ISIS military leader is said to have been killed…..

An air strike in west Iraq reportedly killed on Wednesday a senior figure in the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Al Arabiya’s correspondent reported.

Senan Meteeb, the so-called ISIS “emir” of the western Anbar province, was reportedly killed by a coalition air raid in the Anbar city of Hit. Twenty-four other ISIS fighters were also reportedly killed.

Item 3–Shi’a militias say that Kurds too NO part in the battle……

RBIL, Kurdistan Region – A top Iraqi militia commander said that no Kurdish forces took part in the operation that pushed back Islamic State (IS) gunmen from the strategic city of Saadiya which had been seized by the jihadists militants since early summer.

Hadi Ameri, who is the head of the Shiite Badr militia, said Iranian army played a key role in liberating the two cities of Jalawla and Saadiya.

“Saadiya was liberated by the (Shiite) People’s Protection Force (HASHD) with heavy artillery and air support from the Iraqi army and national police force,” Ameri told Rudaw. “No Peshmarga force took part in the battle for Saadiya,” he added.

Everyone in the fight will be jockeying for favor….so it begins……

Item 4–The new plan for Iraq to battle ISIS is a small “vanguard” force……

The massive Iraqi Army was routed by ISIS in the summer, and shrank precipitously, as the divisions based in Mosul basically vanished, through defections or executions, and their equipment almost entirely ended up in ISIS hands.

Instead, officials say the US is looking to create an entirely separate light infantry “vanguard force” for the time being, figuring they can cobble together these new brigades first and then use them as a model for a “leaner, meaner Iraqi Army.”

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraq’s central government is impeding foreign military assistance to the Kurdish Peshmerga forces in their fight with the Islamic State (ISIS), Kurdistan’s national security advisor complained.

Masrour Barzani said that Baghdad “impedes the foreign assistance to the Peshmerga forces,” adding that “this is a violation of the constitution.”

“In the constitution the Peshmerga are part of Iraq’s defense forces,” said Barzani. “But Baghdad not only does not meet its constitutional responsibilities, it rather prevents the delivery of assistance to the Peshmerga,” he said.

Good day……this will be the last briefing until Friday…..enjoy your T’giving.

Item 1–ISIS has put a bounty on spies and informants……

ISIS announced it is offering $5,000 to anyone who can capture an informant or provide information leading to such a capture. Fliers announcing the deal have been reported around ISIS territory in Syria.

While they will no doubt eagerly take any spies for foreign powers, the effort seems in particular to find the spotters on the ground helping US warplanes pick out targets to bomb.

Item 2–ISIS in the process of capturing another Iraqi town…….

Islamic State fighters on Tuesday penetrated to the core of Ramadi, the provincial capital of Iraq’s largest province, prompting local security officials to warn that the city was on the verge of falling to the extremists. Such a gain would be the Islamic State’s most significant victory in months.

Officials said that extremist fighters were only tens of yards away from entering the main government compound.

Islamic State insurgents battled Iraqi forces in the center of Baiji on Tuesday, a week after the army broke their prolonged siege of the country’s largest oil refinery just outside the town, an army officer and residents said.

Islamic State (IS) fighters were present in four of Baiji’s 12 neighborhoods, as well as areas on the perimeter of the sprawling refinery complex. But the army controlled its southern approaches, preventing insurgents from surrounding it, according to a Baiji resident who toured the area.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria has released another propaganda video showing militants training dozens of children from Kazakhstan to use assault rifles. The new video was produced by ISIS’ main media branch Al Hayat Media Centre.

The new footage opens with a slow motion scene of two lines of armed fighters running in the desert. In between the lines, a man can be seen holding the black flag of ISIS while riding a black horse. The video voiceover claims fighters have joined ISIS from Kazakhstan to stop “crusader aggression.” One of the fighters said in the video that they are preparing in the training camp, according to the Daily Mail.

Children ages 4 to 20 years old can be seen wearing the same grey uniforms as the adult fighters. The video showed the child warriors in action in a series of drills supervised by a bearded adult wearing a black tunic. The voice in the video claimed the children will be ready to join ISIS soon.

Good day……all eyes are on Ferguson, Missouri and the reaction to the grand jury decision……but I will press on the war that no one wants to talk about…..

Item 1–I warned as did many others that the US intervention in the ISIS situation would do more harm than good….

US air strikes in Syria are encouraging anti-regime fighters to forge alliances with or even defect to Islamic State (Isis), according to a series of interviews conducted by the Guardian.

Fighters from the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and Islamic military groups are joining forces with Isis, which has gained control of swaths of Syria and Iraq and has beheaded six western hostages in the past few months.

Some brigades have transferred their allegiance, while others are forming tactical alliances or truces. Support among civilians also appears to be growing in some areas as a result of resentment over US-led military action.

This is not good news….and things may only get worse….

Item 2–The IS keeps sending weapons to Iraq but where are they really going?

Awash in oil wealth and massive influxes of US aid, Iraq was supposed to have the best trained, best equipped military in the region. After being routed by ISIS, there is huge pressure for the US to rearm them.

But the billions of dollars in aid they have to send to Iraq to build that military up again isn’t going to go nearly so far as you’d figure, because of the massive amount of corruption in the Iraqi military.

It is insanity to send weapons to Iraq so that ISIS will be armed….time to re-think the policy.

Item 3–The key, some say, to defeating (a delusion) ISIS is the province of al-Anbar….but ISIS is using a different tactic…….

A recent Islamic State offensive in Iraq’s Anbar province suggests that the extremist organization is changing tactics, relying less on local Sunni Muslim tribes for support and carrying out what one coalition strategist called a “counterinsurgency campaign” intended to undercut any U.S.-led effort to enlist tribes against it.

The outlines of this new strategy became apparent last week when the Islamic State launched an assault on Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, without the assistance of local fighters. That assault was preceded by weeks of assassinations aimed at prominent members of Anbar tribes.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/11/24/4350530_islamic-state-toughens-tactics.html?sp=/99/102/111/&rh=1#storylink=cpy

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—Peshmerga forces have asked the Shiite Badr brigade to handover the control of Saadiya in northern Diyala to the Kurds a day after the town was liberated from Islamist militants, a Peshmerga spokesman said.

“There is the Badr brigade in Saadiya now and we need to negotiate with them in order to take the town back from that militia force,” Brigadier Ahmed Latif, Peshmerga spokesperson in the area told Rudaw.

Good Day and welcome to briefing…..this will be a short week because of T’giving…..as the month ends the news of the conflict is but a trickle….but that is expected because the media now has immigration to fixate on…..and of course the wait for the decision in Ferguson………….but IST will remain a good source of information for the war and its consequences….

Item 1–ISIS seems to be in the move again…..

(CNN) — ISIS militants are fighting Iraqi military and tribal forces close to the main government complex of Anbar province in the center of Ramadi, according to a local official there.

The fighting started Friday after ISIS militants launched a coordinated assault from different direction around the city, according to Faleh al-Issawi, deputy head of the provincial council.

The battle is taking place about 1,000 feet from the complex that houses the local government and security headquarters. “If the government complex falls, it would mean the fall of the whole province,” Al-Issawi told CNN.

Anbar where the US will try to use the tribes again to fight the bad guys….

Item 2–US has issued mixed messages on the Syrian front of the conflict…….

Vice President Joe Biden spent four hours today in private meetings with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The topic: how to impose regime change on Syria, Turkey’s war-torn neighbor to the south.

Publicly, the US has been in favor of regime change for years, and had been backing “moderate” rebel factions on and off in hopes of installing one of them.

Since entering a direct war with ISIS in Syria two months ago, the US war focus has been on ISIS and other rebel factions, strikes which the US concedes are benefiting the Assad government.

At some point the US will need to pick one eventuality concerning Syria….hopefully it will not be too LATE to effectively meet the strategy.

Item 3–This is a paradox since Turkey has been fighting the PKK and Peshmerga for decades…….

(Reuters) – Turkish soldiers are training Kurdish peshmerga fighters in northern Iraq and will give similar assistance to a new national army unit in Baghdad as part of the struggle against Islamic State, a senior Turkish official said on Saturday.

Turkish soldiers began special forces training with Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq three weeks ago, peshmerga spokesman Brigadier General Halgurd Hikmat said. The Turkish official said similar assistance would be given to Iraq’s National Guard.

Item 4–Chuck Hagel resigns as sec of Defense……There is more to this than meets the eye…I will be looking into this situation…..my guess at this time is he did not like the direction of the war against ISIS……

Sadly the media does not think that a conflict where Americans can die is woth more than a few seconds as an afterthought to some BS report on what Cosby has done….personally I find it disgusting.

Thanx for your time and attention………

Turn The Page!

Good day and welcome……this will conclude the briefings for this week…..today will be a short briefing because the prez has made his announcement on immigration and the war, the death and the destruction will just have to take a backseat……

Item 1–Months back the Iraqi Army tucked and ran in the face of ISIS…..and now the Iraqi government is demanding more weapons to fight……

The 2008-2009 Iraqi Army had a lot of very high-end US weaponry and vehicles. It was the best weaponry money (and a lot of taxpayer aid) can buy, and that gear was the envy of the region.

US officials are reportedly reluctant to sell Iraq a new collection of high-end weaponry because a large chunk of the weapons that were there a few years ago were abandoned by Iraqi troops in retreat and looted by ISIS.

A valid concern….if we send them more weapons how long will it be before they are in the hands of ISIS?

Item 2–Before funding is approved US troops will be deployed in Iraq……

Some of the 1,500 U.S. troops authorized to advise and train Iraqi forces in their fight against Islamic State militants will deploy to the country in the next few weeks without waiting for Congress to fund the mission, the Pentagon said on Thursday.

Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said leading elements of the U.S. force would begin moving to Iraq in the coming weeks, even if Congress has not yet acted on a $5.6 billion supplemental request to fund the expanded fight against the militants who overran northwestern Iraq this year.

What is the rush?

Item 3–Finally!  Some truth coming out of the admin…….

Obama Administration suggested that a wholesale reconsideration of the ISIS war in Syria was going to be changing the near-term goals toward the ousting of President Bashar Assad.

Now, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is conceding again that Assad is “indirectly benefiting” from the war, even though the US doesn’t mean for that to happen.

The question is….how will they overcome this situation?

Item 4–Israel is getting closer to a possible intervention……

Another Syrian province looks set to fall out of Assad government control soon, with al-Qaeda’s Jabhat al-Nusra sending some 2,000 fighters against Ba’ath City and Khan Arnaba, the last towns they yet control in Quneitra Province.

The Quneitra Province covers the Syrian side of the Golan Heights frontier with neighboring Israel, and has been sieged by Nusra and some other more moderate rebel factions for months.

Will Israel sit on the sidelines?  If not what will be the rsult if they are dumb enough to intervene?

Item 5–Report of another major ISIS leader being killed…….

(Reuters) – An Islamic State leader has been killed in an air strike in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, residents and a local medical source said on Thursday.

Radwan Taleb al-Hamdouni, whom the sources described as the radical militant group’s leader in Mosul, was killed with his driver when their car was hit in a western district of the city

This is good news but NOT a game changer.

That concludes today’s briefing…..next briefing 24Nov14…….

Thanx for your time and attention…..

Turn The Page!

Good day, my friends……this will be the last briefing of the week…..will resume Monday and it will be a short week because of Thanksgiving……

Item 1–Pres. Obama is thanking Saudi Arabia for its help in fighting ISIS…….

The White House says Obama met Wednesday with Saudi Arabia’s Prince Mutaib. He’s the son of King Abdullah and the head of the Saudi Arabian National Guard.

The White House says Obama praised Saudi Arabia’s role in promoting Mideast peace and stability and in engaging with Iraq’s new government. Saudi Arabia is one of a handful of Arab countries playing a role in the coalition conducting airstrikes against IS.

My question is…just what is Saudi doing to fight ISIS?  They are getting everyone else to do the fighting…..they are partially responsible for the rise in Wahhabism…..they constantly refuse to fight fundamentalism that breeds extremists…..so I ask again….just what are they doing to fight ISIS?

Item 2–We now have an estimate on the length of the ISIS situation……

During an interview at the Defense One conference, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Martin Dempsey estimated that the US war against ISIS in Iraq and Syria will last “up to four years.”

What he’s basing that on is totally unclear, as the Obama Administration continues to escalate the war, and the scope and goals of the conflict at this point remain totally unclear, and growing all the time.

Gen. Dempsey himself has been recently pushing for major increases in the role of US ground troops in the war, suggesting it was time to start considering using them in offensive operations, particularly the retaking of Mosul.

Personally, I think that figure of 4 years is a bit too optimistic……..based on the flow of the conflict today……

Item 3–I reported about a month ago that Kobane was fought as a PR war…..others see it as such …….

Two months after the United States began bombing militants attacking Kobani in northern Syria, the fate of the obscure border town has become the defining battle of the broader contest with the Islamic State — to solidify, or roll back, its borders and ambitions.

For Washington, Kobani is a crucial public test of President Obama’s strategy of combining American air power with local ground forces. For the Islamic State, it is a test of its image of inevitability and invincibility, and a tool for recruiting jihadists.

Kobane is not as crucial as the media and the military would have you believe….about the best use for Kobane is for PR…..

Item 4–After an absence from the media and the rhetoric…..the US has once again focused on the Khorasan Group………

The U.S. military announced Wednesday it struck the Khorasan Group in an airstrike earlier this week.

The airstrike took place in northwest Syria near Haram, and destroyed a storage facility associated with the group, which the Pentagon described as “a network of veteran Al Qaeda operatives” whose members are plotting external attacks against the U.S. and its allies.

There still is a murky dialog about the existence of this group or its effectiveness….but it makes a good enemy for the media……

Item 5–ISIS seems to be winning the battle of social media……but how can this be?

Soufan: They are very familiar with social media — they know how it works. They are very smart in reaching out to the iPhone generation. They deploy different tools in different markets — using mostly Twitter in the Gulf region, for example, and Facebook in Syria. It’s very decentralized and that is interesting. It is the first organization of this kind that understands the impact of social media.

Soufan: We do know that a whole army of bloggers, writers and people who do nothing else other than to watch social media are working for IS. According to our research, most are based in the Gulf region or North Africa. The program was started by Abu Amr Al-Shami, a Syrian born in Saudi Arabia. And we know that at one point more than 12,000 Twitter accounts were connected to IS. This is one of the unique tactics used by this group: the decentralization of its propaganda work. The Islamic State has maximized control of its message by giving up control of its delivery. This is new.

That concludes today’s briefing……..

Thanx for your time and attention….I do hope that these briefings are keeping informed on the conflict as it unfolds…….

Turn The Page!

Good day and welcome to today’s briefing…..

Airstrikes are being productive but not in positive way……

Item 1–we can expect at least a 2 year war with ISIS…….

A new report prepared for the United Nations Security Council warns that the militant group known as the Islamic State (Isis) possesses sufficient reserves of small arms, ammunition and vehicles to wage its war for Syria and Iraq for up to two years.

The size and breadth of the Isis arsenal provides the group with durable mobility, range and a limited defense against low-flying aircraft. Even if the US-led bombing campaign continues to destroy the group’s vehicles and heavier weapons, the UN report states, it “cannot mitigate the effect of the significant volume of light weapons” Isis possesses.

Those weapons “are sufficient to allow [Isis] to continue fighting at current levels for six months to two years”, the UN report finds, making Isis not only the world’s best-funded terrorist group but among its best armed.

Item 2–Some good news from the Iraqi army…….

State TV broadcast footage of Iraqi troops entering the Baiji Refinery. The nearby town of Albu Jewari was also recaptured. With the siege of Baiji now apparently over, the government says it will regroup and plan out a strategy to retake Tikrit, which lies to the south and is the second largest city occupied by the militants. A separate operation was launched in Saidiya.

Next target for an Iraqi operation……

The Iraqi army’s next target is to isolate militants holding the city of Tikrit, after having broken the Islamic State group’s hold on Baiji and its refinery, a senior officer said Monday.

Item 3–Iraq has an army of “ghost soldiers”…….

The Iraqi army includes “ghost” soldiers, a purely Iraqi term used to describe members whose names are registered in the wages and salaries lists, but who are not actually present in the military ranks. Their wages go to leaders who cover for their absence.

Maybe the US should check to see how deep this thing goes….are we paying for troops that do not exist?

Item 4–ISIS is playing a game with Washington…….

The enticement game played between the US administration on the one hand, and the Islamic State (IS) on the other, lingers.

As Washington adopts a slow pace and attempts to create appropriate conditions for its real regional strategy without falling into the traps and swamps that it previously experienced, the other camp seems to be provoking and forcing the United States to deploy its troops on the ground by further slaughtering of US citizens.

In this context, the question is no longer whether IS is luring the United States, but rather why it is in a hurry to lure it and what for?

ISIS is in a hurry for a ground confrontation with the US because it is about to collapse under its own weight….

Item 5–John Kerry is building the case that I warned about right here on IST…..

The US has accused Syria’s president and the Islamic State group of enjoying a “symbiotic” relationship as it seeks to shore up support for its strategy of supporting moderate rebels ahead of key Congressional votes.

In a speech in Washington just hours after the death of the latest American hostage at the hands of the Islamist militants known as Isis or Isil, Secretary of State John Kerry argued the country’s two sworn enemies were propping each other up.

“I am aware that some believe the air strikes against Isil in Iraq and Syria will have the perverse affect of assisting the country’s long time dictator Bashar al-Assad, whose ruthless repression has generated the gravest humanitarian catastrophe certainly of this century,” he said.

“That assumption is actually based on a misreading of the political reality in Syria. In fact the Assad regime and Isil are dependent on one and other, that’s why Assad has relentlessly bombed areas held by the moderate opposition while doing almost nothing to hinder Isil’s march.”

That sounds more like wishful thinking to this analyst……..could be a move to include action against Assad…..

This concludes today’s briefing…..hopefully it was informative…..

Thanx for your time and attention…..

Turn The Page!

Good Day and welcome……

Airstrikes continue….ISIS consolidation continues…….war is not progressing as all intended…..

Item 1–There seems to be a new backer for ISIS…….

In a statement today Jundallah, a high-profile Balochistan-based Islamist faction, announced that it is pledging loyalty to ISIS, and will back “whatever plans they have” going forward. The move follows reports from the Associated Press last week that the group’s leadership was meeting with ISIS members.

Jundallah is primarily a Balochistan separatist group, active in both Pakistan’s far west and in southeastern Iran. In recent years, the group’s attacks have mostly centered on Iran, and there is evidence they have been backed by Israel’s Mossad in doing so.

Jundallah was originally an ally of al-Qaeda, but had a falling out with them in 2003. The group then started getting funding from what they claimed were CIA agents, and there was ample evidence at the time that it was the US funding them.

Always a good piece of news…..our Friend Mossad (I am not convinced that they are truly a friend of the US) and our own CIA are supporting a group that is now allied with ISIS…….

Item 2–Moderate Syrian rebels have retreated from Aleppo…..

A report out of Turkey’s Hurriyet Daily News claims that the pro-US “moderate” rebel faction the Free Syrian Army (FSA) has abandoned its last territory in northern Syria, in the city of Aleppo.

The FSA, like most pro-US rebel factions, has suffered mounting losses in northern Syria, and was widely expected to lose its foothold in Aleppo to the Syrian military. The claim of 14,000 fighters is surprisingly high, as the FSA had been seeing mass defections for quite some time

The moderates are proving to be NO match of ISIS and its allies….

Item 3–In its failure to do much damage to ISIS capabilities the US has started a name calling campaign…..

The US war against ISIS couldn’t be going much worse. ISIS continues to gain in Iraq, despite soaring US ground deployments into the nation, and the Syria air war has backfired so bad its wiped out most of the US allies, and brought al-Qaeda, once an ISIS rival, into a partnership with them.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during a visit to U.S. troops in Baghdad not to fear — Islamic State terrorists were simply “midgets” with a radicalized view of the world.

In his words: “[They’re] a bunch of midgets running around with a really radical ideology,” Reuters reported.

The desperation to portray ISIS as an unworthy opponent is palpable, and makes some sense in that it would keep people from watching the day-to-day operations of the war too closely. It also gives future officials the opportunity to argue for escalation on the grounds that they “underestimated” the ISIS threat, a card President Obama has already played in his own escalations. Either way, the feigned confidence is bizarre with the war going so badly on so many fronts.

No creditable analyst sees the US air war as being much good….regardless of what the admin puts out……this is quickly becoming a massive failure.  This is a bit immature….I expect better than name calling from someone in charge…..like a clear plan…..would be nice.

Item 4–A re4cent massacre of Sunni tribe members was seen as a possible uniting force for the battle against ISIS…..did not turn out as such….

The massacre of hundreds of members of the Albu Nimr tribe by ISIS was seen as potentially driving other Sunni tribes off the fence and into the arms of the Shi’ite government as an alternative to ISIS. It’s not working out that way.

They were trying to bring other Sunni tribes on board for expelling ISIS from Anbar, but there’s been no sign of any of these other tribes moving closer to the Iraqi government since the massacres, and they may well have had their intended effect of convincing the other tribes not to get involved.

Another plan for the fight against ISIS is a bust….like so many other plans.

Item 5–the FSA in southern Syria seems to be doing a better job in their fight against Assad than the other groups……

Rebel groups based in southern Syria are advancing on the western suburbs of Damascus and warning they might soon enter the capital, a development that’s in sharp contrast to the grim reports from northern Syria, where moderate rebels have suffered setbacks from the government and radical Islamists.

The advance by the so-called Southern Front also stands apart from the situation in the north because moderate rebels still appear to be the dominant opposition force in the south, eclipsing al Qaida’s Syrian affiliate, the Nusra Front, in planning and executing military advances.

Further, Southern Front commanders credit airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition with helping their cause, primarily by keeping Islamic State fighters from moving against them. “If it weren’t for the coalition strikes, Daash would have reached our areas,” Abul Majd, a spokesman for the Southern Front, told McClatchy via Skype, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State. “Thanks to these strikes, we are focusing now on the regime, our main enemy.”

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/11/17/247143_moderate-syrian-rebels-say-theyre.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy